Pretender to contender isn't easy

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The surprising Detroit Lions captured the minds, hearts and souls of their fans with a promising 6-2 start in the first half of the season that helped restore the roar to this long-suffering franchise.

One loss doesn't change that accomplishment.

It muffles the roar a bit, but their 31-21 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at University of Phoenix Stadium is just part of the learning process.

Emphasis on learning.

Lions coach Rod Marinelli and his staff spent the first half of the season teaching and preaching a one-snap-at-a-time fundamental approach to the game.

He has repeated that phrase a million times.

I just mentioned it for the umpteenth time in a column this season. You're reading about it for the umpteenth time while your eyes glaze over. The players still recite Marinelli's coma-inducing mantra as if they're part of a cult following.

It's a tired cliche, but it also happens to be the truth.

In spite of their encouraging first-half performance, the Lions reminded us once more they're still learning some hard lessons about what it takes in the NFL to go from being a perennial pretender to a postseason contender.

"It's not what we're about," frustrated Lions wide receiver Roy Williams said of the team's lackluster performance against the Cardinals, featuring five turnovers, 10 penalties, missed blocking assignments, missed tackles and a regrettable play call by offensive coordinator Mike Martz in the third quarter.

"We're a good football team, we know it. Everybody just has to do their part," he said amid a silent locker room afterward. "All three phases just did not come together today. We have to get back to championship football."

It won't require going back to the chalkboard.

The Lions, still in second place in the NFC North standings, need a refresher on fundamentals in preparation for a difficult second-half schedule that includes the New York Giants at home this weekend, Green Bay twice, Dallas at home and a road trip to San Diego. It's an imposing lineup, but not impossible.

It all depends on the learning process.

The Lions can't afford to get flagged for 12 men in the huddle, repeated false starts, dropped passes and a missed blitz pickup that puts quarterback Jon Kitna, who has been sacked a league-high 37 times, flat on his back.

It didn't end there.

An illegal formation penalty nullified a long touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, a personal foul on Williams for unsportsmanlike conduct after a two-point try forced the Lions into an on-side kickoff from their 15-yard line, and Martz's bonehead call for an end-around handoff to wideout Shaun McDonald on the opening drive of the second half impacted the game most of all.

Kitna came out throwing in the third quarter.

In the middle of a streak of 10 consecutive completions, Martz decided to call for a little razzle dazzle with the smallest player on the team. The end-around has been successful with 6-foot-5, 239-pound rookie Calvin Johnson running it, but McDonald is no Megatron. He's listed at 5-10, but is really 5-foot-7.

The smurf got trapped in the backfield.

He tried to make something out of nothing, got flipped up in the air and fumbled as he fell to the turf. The Lions had marched to the Arizona 26-yard line and seemed on the verge of launching a real second-half comeback.

"It was big," Marinelli said of the fumble.

Left guard Edwin Mulitalo put a finer point on it.

"In games like this, you can definitely feel the momentum shift on one play," he added.

It's a lesson the Lions thought they'd learned.

The speculation is Marinelli might've goofed when gave the players Monday off last week as a reward for their three-game win streak following the bye week. Of course, he took them out of pads for the first time all season leading up to the Philadelphia game, which resulted in a 56-21 rout.

It's all just a part of the learning process.

The outlook is no less promising despite Sunday's outcome.

The Lions still have much to learn about becoming a winner, but Marinelli isn't about to stop teaching and preaching his simple approach to success.